Ben Rodgers, a local community member of Durango has been utilizing the Maker lab to create art and positivity. He uses recycled items and community space to create knives and other pieces of functioning art.
1
00:00:05,230 --> 00:00:06,460
I'm Ben Rogers.
2
00:00:06,460 --> 00:00:07,960
I'm 19 years old.
3
00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:10,100
I'm living in Durango, Colorado right now.
4
00:00:10,100 --> 00:00:13,250
And I'm a blacksmith and metalworkers.
5
00:00:13,250 --> 00:00:15,980
The main thing that I'm doing right now.
6
00:00:15,980 --> 00:00:18,320
We are sitting in the maker lab right now,
7
00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:20,790
which is where I do all of my work out of.
8
00:00:20,790 --> 00:00:24,240
It's a really awesome
space, member driven.
9
00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:25,860
Allows a pretty sweet opportunity
10
00:00:25,860 --> 00:00:27,580
for anybody who doesn't have access
11
00:00:27,580 --> 00:00:31,650
to a shop like this of their
own to come use this space.
12
00:00:31,650 --> 00:00:34,030
So we're sitting in the
metal shop right now,
13
00:00:34,030 --> 00:00:35,730
which is where I spend most of my time.
14
00:00:35,730 --> 00:00:38,100
My main bread and butter,
15
00:00:38,100 --> 00:00:41,750
I guess I could say, is
the forge and the anvil.
16
00:00:41,750 --> 00:00:43,940
These are like my
definitely favorite tools
17
00:00:43,940 --> 00:00:45,150
to use in this whole space.
18
00:00:45,150 --> 00:00:47,340
And that's how I move
the bulk of the metal.
19
00:00:47,340 --> 00:00:50,920
And then a lot of the
refining work I do with files,
20
00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:52,221
some of the grinders.
21
00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,070
The only teacher I've had is the internet
22
00:00:56,070 --> 00:00:57,440
and trial and error.
23
00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,130
I've pretty much learned it all on my own,
24
00:01:00,130 --> 00:01:02,783
which has been a super,
super fun and rewarding.
25
00:01:03,700 --> 00:01:07,870
I like using reclaimed
materials for a lot of reasons.
26
00:01:07,870 --> 00:01:12,120
I love the features that
some pieces will have,
27
00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,330
I love the sustainability aspect of it
28
00:01:14,330 --> 00:01:18,340
and the price is very, very nice.
29
00:01:18,340 --> 00:01:20,700
You can get pretty
infinite amount of metal
30
00:01:20,700 --> 00:01:24,110
out of things like leaf
springs from a car or coils.
31
00:01:24,110 --> 00:01:26,180
And most of the time you
can get that for free.
32
00:01:26,180 --> 00:01:30,250
Exotic woods can be pretty
unsustainable to like harvest,
33
00:01:30,250 --> 00:01:33,670
but if I can get little chunks of it
34
00:01:33,670 --> 00:01:38,110
from projects that other
people have done secondhand,
35
00:01:38,110 --> 00:01:40,270
what most people would see as trash,
36
00:01:40,270 --> 00:01:41,780
it's pretty cool to be able to turn those
37
00:01:41,780 --> 00:01:45,733
into accent pieces on a knife
38
00:01:45,733 --> 00:01:48,260
or on any other project I'm working on.
39
00:01:48,260 --> 00:01:51,680
My main goal is just
dialing in my like craft.
40
00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:52,990
Cause as much as I want to get
41
00:01:52,990 --> 00:01:56,650
a ton of pieces into people's
hands as fast as possible,
42
00:01:56,650 --> 00:01:59,700
I'm really trying to focus on
the basis of this is the craft
43
00:01:59,700 --> 00:02:01,530
and is all the details
44
00:02:01,530 --> 00:02:04,010
and hand work that goes into all of it.
45
00:02:04,010 --> 00:02:07,430
So the goal is just to keep
learning piece by piece
46
00:02:07,430 --> 00:02:09,350
and keep enjoying it because I do.
47
00:02:09,350 --> 00:02:11,600
This is such a playful space for me.
48
00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,026
Just keep learning and loving the process.
